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Yesterday's iPad 2 announcement threw down the gauntlet to the host of tablet challengers, many of which haven't even gotten their product to market yet. How does Apple's second tablet compare to the first generation of its rivals? We pulled the specs for the new iPad and its closest competitors: the large-format Android tablets - Motorola's Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the LG Optimus Pad - HP's TouchPad, and the BlackBerry PlayBook.

While most products have some unique feature or another that sets it apart from the rest, they are fairly comparable, at least to the casual user. What this suggests is that consumers are going to make their choice based on price and brand familiarity. And while many competitors have not released their prices yet - and may decide to set them based on the iPad - if this is the case, it could be that the iPad may continue to have the advantage for a while.

So is 2011 going to be "the year of the iPad 2?" We'll have to wait and see, though if competitors' offerings continue to be late out of the starting gate, the iPad's lead may be hard to overcome.